gotlost
Kap Chong R Us Member
Just received this update on Preah Vihear Temple entrance FROM the Cambodia side. Apparently the khmer are allowing Thai nationals to tour the temple.
Yesterday,Mon 27th May, we visited Preah Vihear Temple from Thailand via the Chong Sa-Ngam border crossing. The “we” being me (retired Aussie on a 12-month retirement visa extension), my wife and her mum & dad who are Thai citizens. We live about an hour away from the border crossing in Sisaket province.
It turned out to be an easy process. Parked the car at the border, went through Thai Immigration and walked across the border into Cambodia. I had to get a visa to enter (good for a month though I was only there for a matter of hours). The family just had their Thai passports stamped.Several taxi drivers approached us. The missus picked one and we headed off. The drive took around 1 ½ hour to where we had to buy our entry tickets. We then transferred to a Hi-Lux crew cab and were driven up a steep road to the temple entrance. We stayed at the temple for a few hours, then returned by the way we came. Crossing back into Thailand was easy with me slowing the process up as I had to fill in an Arrival/Departure card.
A few comments.
I got a Thai re-entry visa prior to going there. You need to take a passport photo with you to obtain a Cambodian visa. Getting a visa took about 5 minutes but I was the only one there. We used Thai baht to pay for everything for the whole time we were in Cambodia. Using $US = 31 baht as a guide, we got touched up a tad on the exchange rates but nothing dramatic.
If you go there, try to go earlier than us as the heat is a killer. The temple opens at 0730 and closes at 1730. We arrived at the temple around 1130. There is little shade. It is a long walk from one end to the other. At a guess, the temple is about the same size as Phanom Rung in Buriram but it is an uphill walk with plenty of steps. Cold water can be purchased along the way. The views from the top over Cambodia are spectacular. We were in Cambodia for about 7 ½ hours.Thai & some English was spoken at the border crossings, the taxi driver and at the temple. Not many people were visiting the temple unlike Pha Mor E Daeng on the Thai side which on the several times I have been there had always been busy.
It is not a cheap “day out with the family” type thing. The main costs were 1000B re-entry visa, 1200B Cambodian visa plus 400B (100B each) “entry fee” to Cambodian Immigration, 3000B return taxi fare in an old Toyota Camry (air-conned and a decent driver), 1600B (400b each) for the temple entry & 1000B for 4WD trip up to the temple.Food, drinks, tips, toilets on top of that.
It is well worth the visit if you can do it IMHO. I hope these comments may help others
Yesterday,Mon 27th May, we visited Preah Vihear Temple from Thailand via the Chong Sa-Ngam border crossing. The “we” being me (retired Aussie on a 12-month retirement visa extension), my wife and her mum & dad who are Thai citizens. We live about an hour away from the border crossing in Sisaket province.
It turned out to be an easy process. Parked the car at the border, went through Thai Immigration and walked across the border into Cambodia. I had to get a visa to enter (good for a month though I was only there for a matter of hours). The family just had their Thai passports stamped.Several taxi drivers approached us. The missus picked one and we headed off. The drive took around 1 ½ hour to where we had to buy our entry tickets. We then transferred to a Hi-Lux crew cab and were driven up a steep road to the temple entrance. We stayed at the temple for a few hours, then returned by the way we came. Crossing back into Thailand was easy with me slowing the process up as I had to fill in an Arrival/Departure card.
A few comments.
I got a Thai re-entry visa prior to going there. You need to take a passport photo with you to obtain a Cambodian visa. Getting a visa took about 5 minutes but I was the only one there. We used Thai baht to pay for everything for the whole time we were in Cambodia. Using $US = 31 baht as a guide, we got touched up a tad on the exchange rates but nothing dramatic.
If you go there, try to go earlier than us as the heat is a killer. The temple opens at 0730 and closes at 1730. We arrived at the temple around 1130. There is little shade. It is a long walk from one end to the other. At a guess, the temple is about the same size as Phanom Rung in Buriram but it is an uphill walk with plenty of steps. Cold water can be purchased along the way. The views from the top over Cambodia are spectacular. We were in Cambodia for about 7 ½ hours.Thai & some English was spoken at the border crossings, the taxi driver and at the temple. Not many people were visiting the temple unlike Pha Mor E Daeng on the Thai side which on the several times I have been there had always been busy.
It is not a cheap “day out with the family” type thing. The main costs were 1000B re-entry visa, 1200B Cambodian visa plus 400B (100B each) “entry fee” to Cambodian Immigration, 3000B return taxi fare in an old Toyota Camry (air-conned and a decent driver), 1600B (400b each) for the temple entry & 1000B for 4WD trip up to the temple.Food, drinks, tips, toilets on top of that.
It is well worth the visit if you can do it IMHO. I hope these comments may help others
